Wednesday, September 1, 2010

An unsolved mystery

When you're raised to believe that things happen for a reason, then there is no such thing as a coincidence. The people you meet, the things you see, and the events that occur all fit together in some order over which you have no control. You may not understand them at the time, if ever, but if you can piece together the puzzle, then perhaps your life will make more sense. Or not. Time marches on regardless, but I believe the more you can figure out what the world is trying to tell you, the better your chances of leading a full and rich life. That's the way my mind works anyway.

Several events have occurred at the 7MSN over the past few days...and years...which, when added together, seem to be telling me something. I don't have a freakin' clue what that is yet, but I sure am having fun trying to figure it all out.

This all started the day I moved to the 7MSN. My friend Kim was helping me move and arrived first in the convoy of vehicles. She spotted a large turtle in the driveway and moved it out of harm’s way before he got run over.

Not quite three years later, in June 2008, I saw the turtle again and wrote about it here. A dear friend had recently passed away, and I named the turtle Steve in his honor.

A year later, while my sister was visiting, we spotted Turtle Steve while out on a walk with Smooch. That was the last time I saw him...until this past Saturday. Carolynn and I were walking Smooch down the road about a half mile from the house when I looked down and there he was! Or so I thought.

Post processing: 1. PW's Define and Sharpen action; 2. PW's Quick Edge Burn action at 13%


I was absolutely thrilled to see Steve again, but could only wonder why he timed his appearances to coincide with the arrival of house guests.


After the requisite photo shoot, we set him back on the ground and sent him on his merry way.



The next morning, we were just out the front gate and there he was again! I couldn't resist the temptation to pick him up and relocate him to my garden.



The girls extended him a warm welcome...


...and wondered, as did I , if he would stick around.


But then I realized that the turtle in the garden was not the turtle I had spotted the day before out on the road – the coloring on their legs was very different. I dug up an old picture of Steve to compare it to my garden turtle.


After an exhaustive forensic analysis, I can confidently say that the garden turtle is indeed Steve. He didn't stick around, but he now knows where he can get a free handout and I'm certain he'll be back.

But what about the other turtle? What's his story? And why did two turtles suddenly appear this weekend out of nowhere? And why do they show up only when I have house guests? What does it all mean? And why do I keep humming the theme to "Twilight Zone"? I have a feeling this story is far from over.

33 comments:

  1. Mmmm, interesting, very interesting! Indian lore says the turtle offers protection (sorry Smooch), good fortune (better get that lottery ticket!), and can bring forth happiness and good omens.

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  2. Perhaps Steve was having a house guest too. Or a romantic interest...

    I feel the same way - things happen for a reason and to ignore the magic of "coincidence" is to miss meaning.

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  3. I love this stuff.
    I read your post and then read a little about turtle symbolism, and I think your Steve Turtle is a message for the people who are around when he shows up. He is an amplification of the Thoreau-like CARSON message.

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  4. I like your way of thinking, Linda, and I agree with you 100%. Them turtles are a sign of something...keep searching Moulder...that would make a good title for a book: The Sign of the Turtle

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  5. Now I have the Twilight Zone song stuck in my head. Do-do-do-do Do-do-do-do.

    Steve's a cutie! Have you tried feeding him (thawed) frozen peas? Our Box Turtle loved 'em.

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  6. This is delicious food for thought.

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  7. My husband's aunt always said that turtles were good luck. She lived to be 95 and was one of the wisest women I have ever been blessed to have known.

    And BTW - I totally agree with your view on things happening for a reason.

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  8. things that make you go hmmmmmmmm.........I thnk I see more turtles in the future of 7MSN!

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  9. Whoa...deep thoughts for too early in the day with too little coffee. I'm still trying to figure out what turtles are doing in the desert.

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  10. And just like you said, he's gorgeous.

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  11. I think animal symbolism is such a fascinating subject. I got a rooster a few months ago to help protect my hens. Some areas of our lives changed significantly and I know the rooster, a sign of good fortune, is not a coincidence. Fascinating post. Some of us are the keepers of the animals in our world....it is important that we pay attention.

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  12. "Coincidences are God's way of remaining anonymous." Love that quote.
    By the way, it's easy to call Steve a turtle--but Cedar View's comment made me wonder...Could Steve actually be a tortoise? (If I remember my 2nd grade science unit, turtles need water nearby, tortoises don't.)

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  13. I'll bet there is a book somewhere about turtle lore and the reasons they do things. My guess is he was probably just being nosy and wanted to find out who you were talking to other than your critters.

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  14. Turtle is the the oldest Native American symbol of the Planet Earth. He represents the "protective shell" we have around ourselves. Turtle medicine will remind you to keep a slow and steady pace.

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  15. Wait, your in NM wouldn't Steve be a tortoise?

    Hes a handsome man.

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  16. Funny - we had a turtle sighting last week - I noticed Redford was attending something through the arena gate and when I went over to see what it was, it was a turtle with a shell exactly like the empty shell we found when we first viewed this property.

    I love when things happen like this - I usually don't try to figure out the why - but truly enjoy the gift and the mystery.

    Turtles have powerful symbolism - I bet if you read some about them you'll find your answer. :)

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  17. Lovely desert box turtles!! One word of warning tho- be careful when picking them up. Not for your sake, but for theirs. A lot of times they will pee which in the desert means loss of precious water!

    Also, if you can get a picture of their tail and their bottom shell, we can tell if you have boys or girls!

    Thank you so much for sharing the photos of your boxies!

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  18. Ok Carson - CHILL! Too many questions! I'll have to look in my book to see what it says abt turtles....I'll get back to you on that.

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  19. We were just in your neck of the woods on Monday and saw a couple of terrapins as the eastern New Mexico folks like to call them. Western Box Turtles to us high desert folk. In the 90's I worked with a vet in the Socorro basin tracking and recording and numbering the population. Flipping females onto their backs on a portable x-ray to see the number of eggs was a really grand experience and an education in and of itself. Just before they fatten up for winter, so they can hibernate, they widen their territory to find more food sources. The first picture of "Steve" is a gorgeous male, the other pictures of the original Steve, no so sure but the first one is definately a big old boy. I had one like him I called Big Guy cuz he was.
    Finding a turtle is always a blessing sent to the observer. That's an old Santa Clara saying. How blessed you are indeed to have a reoccuring visitor in such a vast feeding range of turtles. More serendipitious than chance I'd say. Lucky you. The Olde Bagg

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  20. It's all because you are so kind to animals...they know.
    Best always, Sandra

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  21. That is just too cool to run into the same turtle again! I bet he's loving your garden, that's probably a real nice place to be :)
    Very cool!

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  22. Turtles are wonderful, wise creatures. Love the forensic evidence picture!!

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  23. Steve is beautiful, and nicely camoflaged for the desert. Maybe that's why he/she didn't stay in the garden ... he felt too exposed in all that lush greenery, however delicious it must have tasted to a hungry Turtle. I'm sure he'll be back though.

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  24. What a beautiful turtle (tortoise)! I have 2 Greek turtles myself and I can't believe Steve's eyes! The eyes of my little girls are completely dark, no irises.

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  25. Hmmmm...I met a hard-shelled speckled fella when we were at our ranch last in July. I asked him his name and he was pretty private about it. But he was headed north/northeast and maybe it was "Steve" heading back to the 7MSN?

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  26. I feel the same way. Things happen for a reason. Just consider Steve as a blessing. He is beautiful! I've rescued/relocated a number of turtles in my time.....how one got in my fenced in yard years ago is a mystery.

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  27. Samoans use turtle tattoos to symbolize protection...that's interesting that Pat commented it's the same in Indian lore.

    Steve likes to party and shows up when he sees the guests begin to arrive. If you set up a little habitat for him, maybe he'll stay.

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  28. Oops...I meant Marquesan...but maybe Samoan, too. I've been researching Polynesian tattoos...

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  29. Totally unrelated to today's post, but I just saw Bobby Flay's green chili burger cookoff challenge with Bob Olguin of Manny's Buckhorn Tavern in San Antonio NM on Food Network. Yum! It reminded me of you. I love NM from a TX girl!

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  30. Think outside the box, Linda (no pun intended). These turtles are actually studying you and trying to figure out why you always reappear in the same place every few years. If they only had a camera, they could compare you to the human they saw back in 2005, 2008, and most recently this year.

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  31. Wow! Just amazing! And what a beautiful turtle.

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  32. As always Linda, a great blog post. I have told you in the past how I sit here in Florida and live vicariously through your pictures and posts wanting to be living on the property that I own only a few miles away from you but won't be able to for probably 5 more years. My father is living there now and I wonder if you ever cross paths in Mountainair. I think the way you do, people, animals, even objects come to us for a reason.

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  33. Have you read 'Small Gods' by Terry Pratchett? I haven't looked at a tortoise in the same way since. 'Steve' might just be The Great God Om in disguise. ;-).

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